Events in Sport
Event of Interest
Jan 1 After 45 years of coaching, Paul Brown announces his retirement from the National Football League

Paul Brown
- Jan 1 42nd Orange Bowl: #3 Oklahoma beats #5 Michigan, 14-6
- Jan 3 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Renata Tomanova of Czechoslovakia 6-2, 6-2 for her 3rd straight home singles title
- Jan 4 Australian Open Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Mark Edmondson upsets John Newcombe 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 for his first and only Grand Slam title
AFC Championship
Jan 4 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Oakland Raiders, 16-10

John Madden
- Jan 4 NFC Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Dallas Cowboys beat Los Angeles Rams, 37-7
- Jan 5 Greg Chappell scores 182* for Australia at SCG against West Indies
Event of Interest
Jan 6 Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million

Ted Turner
Event of Interest
Jan 9 Bryan Trottier failed in 4th Islander penalty shot

Bryan Trottier
Event of Interest
Jan 11 Dorothy Hamill wins her 3rd consecutive national figure skating championship

Dorothy Hamill
- Jan 13 Future undisputed world middleweight boxing champion Marvin Hagler suffers his first career loss in a controversial 10-round majority decision to Bobby Watts at the Philadelphia Spectrum
- Jan 14 Ted Turner becomes CEO of Atlanta Braves
- Jan 18 Super Bowl X, Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17; MVP: Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh, WR
- Jan 20 29th NHL All-Star Game, Spectrum, Philadelphia: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 7-5; MVP: Peter Mahovlich, Montreal, C
- Jan 23 Ian Redpath hits his only 2 sixes in Cricket Tests, v WI Adelaide
- Jan 23 Wash Caps end 25 game winless streak (0-22-3) beat NY Rangers 7-5
- Jan 24 Cleveland Cavaliers biggest margin victory-43 pts (beat Milwaukee 132-89)
Boxing Title Fight
Jan 24 Former world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman KOs Ron Lyle in 5th round at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas; Foreman knocked down twice in 4th; 'The Ring' Fight of the Year

George Foreman
Birthdays in Sport
- Jan 1 Caleb Wyatt, American motocross rider (Winter X Games Moto X Best Trick gold 2005; first to perform successful backflip), born in Medford, Oregon
- Jan 2 Danilo Di Luca, Italian road cyclist (Giro d'Italia 2007), born in Spoltore, Italy
- Jan 3 Angelos Basinas, Greek soccer defensive midfielder (100 caps; European C'ship 2004), born in Chalkida, Greece
- Jan 4 Benoît Joachim, Luxembourg cyclist, born in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
- Jan 4 Ted Lilly, American baseball player, born in Torrance, California
- Jan 5 Diego Tristán, Spanish footballer, born in La Algaba, Spain
- Jan 6 Richard Zednik, NHL forward (Team Slovakia, Wash), born in Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
- Jan 7 Éric Gagné, Canadian baseball pitcher (NL Cy Young Award 2003), born in Montreal, Quebec
- Jan 7 Alfonso Soriano, Dominican baseball player, born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
- Jan 8 Brad Snyder, Canadian shot putter (Olympics 1996), born in Windsor, Ontario
- Jan 8 Carl Pavano, American baseball player, born in New Britain, Connecticut
- Jan 9 Amy Safe, Australian rower (Olympics 1996), born in Adelaide, Australia (d. 2005)
- Jan 9 Radek Bonk, Czech NHL center (Ottawa Senators, Team Czech), born in Krnov, Czech Republic
- Jan 10 Adam Kennedy, American MLB second baseman (Los Angeles Dodgers, Anaheim Angels), born in Riverside, California
- Jan 11 Efthimios Rentzias, Greek basketball player, born in Trikala, Greece
- Jan 13 Gary Brent, cricketer (Zimbabwe ODI pace bowler 1996)
- Jan 15 Corey Chavous, American football player, born in Aiken, South Carolina
- Jan 16 Viktor Maslov, Russian racing driver, born in Surgut, RSFSR, Soviet Union
- Jan 18 Vincent Polvliet, Dutch soccer player (FC Utrecht)
- Jan 19 Sky Christopherson, American cyclist (Olympics 1996), born in Tucson, Arizona
- Jan 19 Tarso Marques, Brazilian racing driver, born in Paraná, Brazil
- Jan 22 James Dearth, American football player, born in Fort Ord National Monument, California
- Jan 23 Byron Hanspard, American NFL running back (Atlanta Falcons), born in Dallas, Texas
- Jan 23 Phil Boudreault, Canadian boxer (Olympics 1996), born in Greater Sudbury, Canada
- Jan 24 Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian pairs skater (Bourne & Kraatz, 1994 World Champs-4th), born in Chatham-Kent, Canada
- Jan 24 Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist, born in Veurne, Belgium
- Jan 25 Mario Haberfeld, Brazilian racing car driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
- Jan 27 Haimish Karrasch, Australian rower (Olympics 1996)
- Jan 27 Rhett Warrener, Shaunavon, NHL defenseman (Florida Panthers)
- Jan 27 Ahn Jung-Hwan, Korean football player
- Jan 28 Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
- Jan 28 Mark Madsen, American basketball player
- Jan 31 Traianos Dellas, Greek football player, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
- Jan 31 Buddy Rice, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500 2004, 24 Hours of Daytona 2009), born in Phoenix, Arizona
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
Jan 11 NBA player Pete Maravich (27) weds college sweetheart Jackie Elliser in Metairie, Louisiana

Pete Maravich
Deaths in Sport
- Jan 11 Mervyn Grell, cricketer (Test WI v England 1930, 21 & 13, 0-17), dies
- Jan 17 Ad Verhoeven, soccer player (Xerxes/Sparta), dies in a car crash [or 1/18]
- Jan 18 Ad Verhoeven, soccer player (Xerxes/Sparta), dies in a car crash [or 1/17]
- Jan 30 Percy Tyson "Plum" Lewis, South African cricketer (pair in only Test for South Africa), dies at 91